Why Won’t My Dachshund Stop Barking?

Dachshunds are notorious barkers. I knew this so when Chester was young I worked to teach him that constantly barking at everything was not necessary.

That all fell apart about the time Gretel came to live with us. I am not sure if he just discovered that barking was a cool thing once he was around another dog on a daily basis or he felt the need to be “tough” and protect her.

Nonetheless, it is really annoying. As he has gotten older, and more comfortable barking, he does it all the time now. It doesn’t matter if its the mailman, the neighbor’s car door shutting, or a glass being set down on the counter hard.

One thing I have learned over the years is that yelling at him to stop barking is not the proper way to address the issue. According to several dog trainers, when your dog barks and you yell at them, they think you are barking with them. They think it is fun and keep on doing it.

Andrew over at shepped.com, a site about German Shepherd (which are very intelligent and stubborn like Dachshunds), gives some insight into why your Dachshund barks in the first place and how you can work to reduce or stop it.

Why Won’t My Dachshund Stop Barking?

Barking is an innate behavior in all dogs. A bark every once in a while is completely normal, but excessive barking can become a problem for dachshund owners. There are a number of different reasons that your dachshund might start barking, and it’s important to pay attention to the source of the issue. Common causes of excessive barking include:

Boredom: A dog that doesn’t get enough exercise will become restless and frustrated. Dachshunds that aren’t taken for enough walks or given enough toys may bark simply because they have nothing better to do.

Separation Anxiety: If you leave your dachshund alone for long periods during the day, she may start to howl and earn you some complaints from the neighbors.

Territory: Many dogs will bark at strangers or other dogs they spot wandering into their territory. Even an innocent passerby can be perceived as a territorial threat.

Attention: Dachshunds are very social creatures, and they need human interaction on a regular basis. Neglect can lead to excessive barking, which we tend to reinforce with attention.

Take note of when your dachshund is barking and what she’s barking at. You need to identify the root of the problem before you can decide how you want to proceed. There are different techniques to deter barking depending on what is triggering your dachshund.

They Don’t Know the Quiet Signal

The number one key to getting your dog to stop barking, if you can do it, is teach them a “quiet” command. As long as your dachshund is mindful of you, it should be easy to train him or her to follow commands such as “sit” and “quiet.”

Too Much Energy, Too Little Exercise

Maybe your dachshund is running around the house making a racket, or maybe she jumps up and down as she barks. A dog with pent up energy needs to release it somehow, and barking is one way to do that.

If you notice that your dachshund is barking excessively because she seems restless, then she probably needs more exercise. Dachshunds require a twenty to thirty minute walk every single day as well as plenty of toys to play with at home.

Even though walks are a good way to bond and exercise, you also need to socialize your dachshund. In addition to your walks, you and your dog should have a daily playtime together. If you give your dachshund the attention she needs, then she won’t resort to barking for it.

Photo courtesy of Depositphotos and herreid

The Mailman and Other “Intruders”

Dachshunds are territorial creatures, and some will start barking when they see a stranger or another animal in their yard. If your dachshund is relentless in her territorial barking, the best thing you can to is to show her that a passerby is not a threat. You can train your dog to sit and stay quiet as strangers such as the mailman approach the front door. It helps to use treats as bribes, but only give your dachshund a treat if she refrains from barking entirely.

Your dog won’t become desensitized to passing strangers immediately, but over time you can train him or her to associate a passerby with a belly full of treats instead of feeling threatened.

A Demanding Roommate

Most of us have jobs to get to, but not a lot of us can bring our dogs with us. Many dachshunds experience separation anxiety during the day, where they become stressed out by being alone. A dog left by herself for eight hours can start barking to cope with the frustration.

Realistically, most of us can’t quit work to spend more time with our dachshunds. We still need to afford their favorite meaty treats! The best way to help your dog overcome her separation anxiety is to set up a rigid schedule for the two of you. Wake up at the same time, do feedings and walks at the same time, and come home from work at the same time each day. Your dachshund will learn when she can expect to see you, which can be a big load off her mind.

If your work has you out at all hours of the day and night, then a dog sitting service or a doggie daycare would be ideal for your dachshund. That way she can socialize with people and other dogs instead of sitting alone in an empty house.

Dachshunds can be enthusiastic barkers, and excessive barking can be difficult to put a stop to sometimes. If you just can’t seem to get your dog to quiet down, you may want to consider seeing an obedience trainer or a dog behaviorist.

Comments

Excellent advice here. My experience with 15+ years of dog training has always been that excessive barking can easily be curbed by giving the dog (especially super smart dogs like dachshunds) a job to do. Finding the right job is the hard part but that often comes when you get out and about (exercise!) and find an appropriate training school. Wilhelm is very happily set in his pack job ways so the excessive barker in our house is the too-active-of-a-mind corgi and the guard collie can get loud sometimes too. I am still working on helping the herding dogs find a job that is quieter but I am so proud of my hushed, hard working little doxie.

We had a hard time finding an apartment in London (UK) that would allow dogs, and our workplace would not allow Archie to come with us- this was his first experience at being left alone all day. The first time we
Left him he barked a lot, the neighbors complained to the manager, and we got a stern warning that if he did it even one more time, we would be kicked out and lose our hefty deposit.
Our vet recommend a citronella collar, and in desperation we tried it – puts out a puff of citronella at each bark. The first day when we came home the whole apartment stank – doxies are stubborn animals as you know so well. He tried barking five or six times before he was convinced he could not get away with it. After a week with the collar we did not need it any more. Archie learned that barking did not bring a reward like yelling, a walk, attention or relief from boredom. Now he knows that if he barks he has to leave my office and get locked in the car . He also noes that while walking, barking will scare away all the squirrels and rabbits. He only uses his special baying bark while on the chase- otherwise he is very quiet.

Awwww…. poor pups. Have you tried talking to your neighbors? It could be that if they are not walking their dogs because they just don’t care about them that much (sad) or it could be that they just don’t know any better. Many people mistakenly believe that small dogs don’t need exercise. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least when it comes to Dachshunds. Maybe they don’t understand how much their dogs are disrupting your daily life? Anyway, I am sorry you are in this situation.

It is not the dogs fault that they have inattentive owners. Have you gone over and introduced yourself and had a conversation about your complaints? Most people try that first before discouraging people to “consider another breed.”

If it is so unbearable you can call the police.

I find it hard to believe that you like dogs. I had to search to find this page when my rescue dog turned into a permanent member of our family.

Go meet the neighbors and stop being such whiners. I bet you get annoyed if a leaf from their trees blows onto your yard. God forbid the neighbors decide to have children. Boy would that be annoying, all that happy laughter of kids playing.

Relax, be a good neighbor and find a hobby that gets you out of the house, and have a good day! 😎🐾

Hi Terri. Are you sure you left your comment on the right article? I didn’t see anything about calling the police or telling people “considering another breed”. What was suggested as a solution was talking to the neighbors, not calling police. Also, Greg said please “consider your neighbors when owning this breed”. He did not say, “OWN another breed”.

You are obviously very passionate about this issue but your comment seems a bit misguided and comes across as nasty.

That SUCKS; I’m so sorry! I took in a little Dachshund and yes… I am working on training out that barking problem. I won’t tolerate others having to deal with my responsibility. Just know there are some people out there with one of these dogs who agrees with you: it’s not cute, and it needs to be controlled properly with consistent positive work so the dog is happy but understands what is a threat. Again, sorry about your ignorant neighbors.

Yes, the little rascals do bark! Mine bark at noises (which I appreciate), but Sawyer will bark at me if he wants a pig ear chewie! Early in my dachshund days I read that dachshunds were bred to bark and if yours are barking then there is a reason. That helped me a lot! Great post, very helpful!

I just found your blog in Facebook – and I like it! I’ve had dachshunds since 2002 – a whole string of them. Lost my first and favorite in the summer of 2014 when she was 3 weeks shy of 12 years old – broke my heart when she died. If I hadn’t had my others, I don’t know how I would have managed. Sugar was the love of my life, and no other has quite stacked up to her. I love them all, but she was the greatest.

Our seven doxies behave much better if we leave the TV on for them, with sound on at a reasonable level, when we are gone. They seem to feel as if there are people in the house with them, and while they can’t sit on laps, the voices, music, etc. keep them company and distract them from some outside noises. We can even enter the house while the TV is on, and they don’t start barking until the door slams, or when we enter the room where they are.

My breeder friend keeps radios going in her kennel and nursery whenever the dachshunds are in their sleeping crates, which prevents them from barking at coyotes and other noises outdoors. The radios, and our TV, provide “white noise” that the ear and brain register instead of other sounds. I’ve proven it with a radio on while I’m sleeping, to mask the sounds of traffic, roaring wind, or rodents chewing in the walls. My doxies sleep in my room and they sleep soundly with the radio on, less so without it.

One training aid is a “toss can,” which my friend learned to make years ago. Empty a pair of 16-oz. food cans of the same type, clean and dry them. Remove the labels. Put 10-15 pennies or nickels inside, then tape them together with duct or Gorilla tape. (Nickels make more noise than pennies do.) When your dog barks, shake the can loudly and firmly say “NO BARK!” If it barks again, repeat. If the dog is at a distance from you and won’t shut up, toss the can to land noisily near the dog and again, firmly say “NO BARK!”

It is helpful to have more than one toss can handy, stashed around the house in convenient locations for whenever the dog barks. This technique has helped cut down on my dogs’ barking because it’s a distracting noise, breaking their attention from whatever they’re barking at. It doesn’t sound anything like barking, as a human voice yelling at them does, so it startles them.

DO NOT LEAVE THE TOSS CAN WHERE THE DACHSHUND(S) CAN CHEW ON IT! Containing pennies, there is danger of the dog(s) opening the cans and ingesting the pennies, leading to zinc poisoning from the zinc inside the copper jackets. Always keep the can up where your dog(s) can’t get to it. For more information on things that can harm your dog(s), check out http://www.flickennel.com/101_things.html. There’s new stuff being posted all the time, so keep checking it.

Hi Becky. Glad you found my blog. I leave the radio on for Chester and Gretel for “white noise” purposes as you mentioned. I have a bit of a dilemma with the toss can or, as we have tried, the Stop Bark! air horn. Chester is single minded and as stubborn as a mule. Gretel, on the other hand, is a delicate flower. She picks up on every emotion and she gets scared very easy. Any loud deterrent we’ve used has traumatized her really bad. It’s not a solution when someone is coming in the house but I have found “redirection” to be the most effective in stopping their barking. If I can keep my wits about me, I clap a couple of times and call them over to play with a toy or get pets. That’s been the most effective for us so far.

Thank you for the tip! I’m trying to subdue the barking so I can keep the dog and not piss off the neighbors. I don’t yell, so I want positive reinforcement tactics and effective training tips that don’t freak out our little girl. Thanks again:)

Thanks for all the info on barking. We are at our wits end. Archie is a year old and such a lovely dog but he is such a Barker of an evening. He is the only dog I know that hates going for a walk; he just refuses to go far. So he has so much energy when we don’t.

We play for 30 mins but that is not enough.

We will try the pebbles in the can to see if that helps and get him into a routine for bed at night

Constant barking is frustrating 🙁 Too bad you couldn’t “train” Archie to walk longer. Have you considered training tricks or doing conditioning exercises in your living room? I’ve been doing strengthening exercises with my pup since her back injury and the mental concentration it takes really does put a dent in her energy level… albeit a small one. Ha, ha. Every little bit helps, right?

We have a similar problem with little Penny. She refuses to walk more than 3 houses down our street. Her fear builds as she get closer to the corner, just another two houses away. That’s the ways it been for her four years until this past May.

We got a 5 year old rescue chocolate mini, Charlie. It’s taken a few months of adjustment but they finally started playing with and chasing each other. The more comfortable they got around each other the farther she would walk. Charlie would easily walk a mile at at steady pace. Penny, our reluctant mini is now walking to the corner and beyond with ease.

As for barking…well Penny was a calm girl before we got Charlie. Together they can get quite loud. We’re trying several methods.

We solved the barking at night within minuses using the pebbles in a bottle. 2 shakes was enough
Now if he sees the bottle he calms instantly.

The main problem is he is young and I am old so at 6pm he has lots of energy and after work and dinner I don’t.

He is a lovely dog but just does not like going for a walk. He prefers we play in the house or the garden which we do for 30 mons or so. He doesn’t get fetch ????. We wondered if getting a rescue dog would be good for him. The worry would be if he doesn’t take to the new one so interesting to see your comments.

The main problem is he chews and chews. Blankets mostly as we had to stop giving him. I have read this is a calming effect.

Other than that he is typical dachshund and is a barker in the garden. Seems very common with this breed

That’s great to hear that Charlie has encouraged Penny to walk (and probably gave her more confidence). My Chester definitely started barking more when we got a second dog. It’s like he felt he now needed to protect, or alert, her. They feed off each other now. I’ve tried a lot of things but clapping my hands and calmly bur firmly saying “That’s enough” seems to be most effective with them.

My 10 month old dachshund just loves to bark when out and about. She gets approx 2 hours walks a day and spends avgreatceeal barking! Barks at Fifa she doesn’t know and often just at the air and life in general. It’s driving me potty! I have tried to give her a tug, put her back on lead, say thank you calmly, say it severely, turn my back to her…..nothing works:( any suggestions welcome!

I know how frustrating that is. I walk with my Dachshunds on lead but they will still bark and lunge at other dogs if we get close. Honestly, I have avoided most of the problems by crossing the street when we see another dog or making sure that we walk at least 4 or 5 feet away from the other dog (that is their “threshhold” – they are fine if they are 5 or more feet from another dog but tend to bark of they get closer). I know my dogs and know they react that way for two different reasons. Chester gets super excited around other dogs and wants them to pay attention to him. His barking is usually to shout “hello. I am here. Pay attention to me. I want to say hi”. Gretel, on the other hand, does it because she is fearful of other dogs. Her bark says “I’m scared. Stay away from me!”. Knowing WHY your dog does it will help you understand what to do about it. In the meantime, crossing the street or giving a lot of space should help. If your dog is doing it because she is overly excited, there isn’t much you can do about it except maybe teach them impulse control in a dog training class. If she is doing it out of fear, there are dog training classes and information online about how to help a fearful or anxious dog. Most techniques are a combination of conditioning/desensitizing them and teaching them to be more comfortable around strange dogs. I hope that helps. Good luck.

This has been an interesting read and it’s nice to know we’re not alone with this problem! Our Walter is 4 months old and has taken to barking for attention. We ignore him or leave the room but he doesn’t seem to learn that barking results in something bad. Plus he has terrible separation anxiety so leaving the room then causes separation upset and distress, along with more barking!

I am sure I am feeding him the correct amount including treats but he has become very greedy and barks when we are eating. I shut him in his pen, give him a toy and something like a kong to keep him occupied but it doesn’t last for long. He’s soon barking at us to come out and it is piercing. He also barks at our feet for attention if we sit down – he is allowed on the sofa when he is calm so that barking probably stems from that, but I’m not sure how to teach him that he has to be invited up and can’t ask for it all of the time. I started to get him to sit and wait, then reward him for being quiet but he quickly learnt to bark for the treat! As a tiny pup he used to lay quietly on the floor whilst we were eating so I’m not sure where he has learnt this behaviour from. I guess he just barks for attention and to be with us. He gets plenty of interactive play time, training and exercise each day.

We were thinking about shutting him in his crate in another room whilst we eat but as his separation anxiety is so bad, he just gets distressed and soils his crate, so I’m reluctant to allow him to get into that state. It also means constant barking and crying and I’m sure before too long we’ll have the neighbours knocking on the door.

I will try the pebbles in a bottle / pennies in a can I think and see how that goes…wish me luck!

That cetainly does sound like a challenge. Have you tried consulting with a dog behaviorist? They might be able to see why he is doing it and give you some good, specific-to-him tips for helping curb his behavior. I do hole you find sonething that works. Good luck!

i have 2 minis , one is 31/2and she is a female. the second is her son and he is a un neutered male who is almost 2. his continuial barking is driving me crazy. he especially barks at my husband and any other person who enters the house, ive noticed if a female person stays in the house he eventually stops his barking but if the person is a male he will continue to bark. every time my son comes into the room where i am with the dog , he starts vicously barking again. i just dont know what to do with him. he gets tons of attention all day long. i dont work so hes not home alone unless i have errands to do.please help me.

I know how frustrating that can be. Honestly, it sounds like he’s resource guarding you and especially sees males as a threat. Sometimes giving a dog too much attention and being with them all of the time can cause this. They need to learn to be confident and independent on their own. I have to watch with this with Gretel because she is very attached to me and I work from home. I sometimes purposely leave her alone in the house so she is used to me not being there. I’ve also taken her to a training class and agility (not all the time but just for a few weeks at a time) to build her confidence. I’m not saying you did anything wrong, or that 100% is the reason, but that’s usually the issue in my experience. If you search online you will find plenty of resources about resource guarding and anxiety in dogs. I’t also a huge help to have a trainer or animal behaviorist come to your house for one or two visits. They will be able to tell why your dog is doing this (you need to know the cause to properly deal with it) and give you some tips and tools for handling situations when your dog gets upset. Good luck to you guys.

I recently got a new dachshund puppy, Willy, a long-haired Red Standard. I lost my Rudy, a long-haired black and tan Tweenie, 3 years ago. Willy is already exhibiting the “Bark for attention or anything else I might want” syndrome and it feels worse than Rudy’s was. I didn’t think there could ever be another dachs that barked more than Rudy but I have a secret weapon lying in wait.

When I brought Rudy home at 7 wks, the barking started almost immediately. An elderly neighbor lady threatened to call the pound if I didn’t get it under control. I yelled at him and it got worse. Finally I read about the Citronella collar – yay! I ordered one. Typical Doxie — he barked, it sprayed, he shook it off, and kept barking – until it broke. I got another, he broke it in a couple of days, so I got one more. No luck.
Tried the pennies, even reluctantly tried a shock collar — didn’t help and I didn’t have the heart.
It was quickly becoming a serious problem with the neighbor lady constantly harassing me. And then I got an idea…
I had seen a dog with a muzzle on one day, this was not that common back then — 20 years ago. I thought about whether it may or may not work. It seemed cruel to me — a little — but then again… the shock collar and even the consideration of removing the vocal cords… OK, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

I went to the prt store and got a little red cloth muzzle. Whenever he barked, I gave him a command — “No Barking” — and naturally he ignored me. I put on the muzzle and gave the conmmand firmly a few more times. Needless to say, he hated the muzzle and at first barked through it. Muzzled, yes, but still a bark. I ignored him, it was a little quite and easier to ignore and I think his jaws got tired because after about 15 minutes he would stop and I’d remove the muzzle. If he started to bark again I put it right back on.

It wasn’t long before all I had to do was hold the muzzle in front of him and he’d lay down and moan. Eventually I only had say “Muzzle” to get him to stop . It was a freaking miracle!

I still have the little muzzle and am giving Willy another week or 2 to see whether I need to utilize that method. I am somewhat reassured knowing I have that tool as backup. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip Lyn. I sure hope someone reads your comment and it helps them. It’s very frustrating when your dog is always barking, especially for attention. Chester does it now sometimes in his old age. I think it’s because he gets more impatient now and has less manners 😉 It’s a sharp bark like “Hey, jerk, do this thing NOW.”. Ha, ha.I never used a muzzle but I wasn’t beyond “squeezing his beak” if he needed it. I would place my fingers firmly but gently around his muzzle and give a slight squeeze (like you might squeeze your friend’s or husband’s hand). It was a deterrent because he didn’t like it. He started listing to me more when I said stop barking. More recently, what I’ve found to be helpful, is to clap my hands a few times and calmly but sternly say, “that’s enough.” I then redirect the dogs to something else. Sounds like you tried something similar with the pennies though. Anyway, good luck with Willy. I’m sure he “wants” to be a good dog. He just needs to know how 🙂

Peanut is 16 and for the first few years she was holy terror, we had complaints from neighbors ect… Then my grandmother gave me a Maltese for my birthday, and the problem got a thousand times worse. I was a stay at home mom, so they weren’t lonely and we often hiked up to 5 miles a day. You would think with all the exercise and attention they would be worn out, or at least content, but a squirrel could fart a block away and they were at it for at least twenty minutes. To make matters worse, Maltese are VERY SENSITIVE to loud noises (unless coming from her) ironic. Penny can was out of the question. The simple solution was so easy and effective I really felt dumb for not thinking of it YEARS SOONER. Are you ready for it? It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!! A SIMPLE SPRAY WATER BOTTLE PURCHASED FORM DOLLAR STORE. It was immediat. One spray and they were so surprised that I could “reach out and touch them” from across the room, that they forgot what they were barking at. By the end of the day all I had to do was look at the bottle and they knew I meant business. The Maltese would instantly stop and lay down. Peanut on the other hand, had to get very wet a few times, but I understood that she was stubborn, and simply didn’t want to give up her alpha role. She had owned us up until then, now the tables had turned. One last piece of advice…. NEVER LEAVE YOUR HOUSE WITH THAT BOTTLE SOMEWHERE THEY CAN GEY IT. my dox would climb up to the moon if she could, (something about feeling tall I would guess.) I went to the grocery store and left the water bottle on the kitchen table, when I got home there was a water puddle in the kitchen, and about a thousand tiny pieces of water bottle EVERYWHERE. Peanut made sure that I knew exactly what she thought of the new arrangement!!! We promptly bought a metal bottle, and made sure to put it up when we left. PROBLEM SOLVED

“Squirrel could fart”. Ha, ha, ha 🙂 I do know many people who have successfully employed the water bottle technique. Like the pennies in a can, it’s considered an “adversive” or “punishment-based” training method so some trainers will tell you not to do it but, in my experience, it does work for sure.

If only it were a joke. Ha, ha. Seriously though, I trained mine to not be excessive barkers from an early age. Oh…. they still bark a lot but only like once every 5 squirrel fart.

Once most people own a Dachshund, they are in love with the breed for life. They aren’t for everyone though. I’m happy to see you’re doing your research first. If you haven’t read it, definitely check out my article “21 things everyone should know about Dachshunds“

My daschund Scooby only barks and whines when I’m gone and it doesn’t matter how long I’m gone from my house and when I come back from wherever he’s all over me and acts like he hasn’t seen me in awhile and he follows me everywhere what do I do to stop this?

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I Am Not Your Vet….

I am just a passionate pet parent that shares a lot of information on this blog. Some of it is researched facts; some of it is stuff I learned through the experience of owning and hiking with a Dachshund for 10 years; and some of it is just good ol' opinion. Please check with your veterinarian before your dog undertakes a new exercise routine, you introduce a new food, treat or supplement, or to confirm that anything I suggest here is a good fit for your dog.

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